T-Group methods usually encourage self-disclosure and openness, which may be
inappropriate or even punished in organizations. This was an early learning. When
managers thought they could take the T-group method into the back home
organization, they discovered that the methods and the assumptions of a T-group did
not fit. T-groups consisted of participants who were strangers. They didn't have a
history or a future together and could more easily focus on here and now behavior.
Another issue was that in the organization there were objectives, deadlines and
schedules related to accomplishing the work of the company or group. Groups with a
task to accomplish could not take the same time that would be used in a T-Group.
These difficulties helped lead to the development of Organization Development and
team building. What had been learned in T-Groups was combined with other
knowledge and these new disciplines emerged as ways to address the values raised by
the T-Group experience.